"Watching from afar, I've always been envious of what's being built in Cincinnati," he said. "I know it's a rising club, not just in the U.S., but the North American soccer scene. I'm looking forward to being here and contribute."

Team president and general manager Jeff Berding said Sassano will report to him, similarly to head coach Alan Koch. Berding referred to the trio as a "three-legged stool."

"My expectation here is that they are my two experts in soccer," Berding said. "They are two tremendous leaders in soccer with a tremendous amount of experience not just in the United States but around the world."

Sassano, a former Major League Soccer player, comes to Cincinnati after maintaining the same role at the New York Cosmos in the North American Soccer League. There, he worked in a front office that signed global soccer legend Raúl, as well as Cincinnati's new signing Emmanuel Ledesma.

What this means signing players

Sassano's arrival comes at an interesting time. FC Cincinnati has recently built a squad from nine players in October to 26 approaching Saturday's United Soccer League season opener in Charleston.

As the technical director, his role means he'll work with clubs, agents and players to sign talent moving forward. The transfer window is currently open, meaning FC Cincinnati can adjust its roster as it finds necessary.

"I'm really excited to work with the players that are already here," he said. "I'm excited to work with Alan and his staff. You can already tell from the offseason, Jeff and Alan have done a tremendous job preparing the team for success this year. I'm looking forward to help contribute."

Back in October, Koch took a 13-day, multi-continent trip to recruit players for Cincinnati this season. Now, that role likely falls under Sassano, who can scout and negotiate both remotely or wherever necessary. Koch expressed his eagerness to begin working with him.

"It's a great day for us as we grow our club," Koch said. "To bring somebody in like Luke with his expertise, his aptitude and the experiences he has is a huge acquisition for our club. I'm genuinely excited to work with Luke."

When Koch was originally hired in December 2016, his role was the director of scouting and analytics. Of course, that role switched to head coaching duties when John Harkes was fired. As Koch oversees players, Berding said Sassano will focus on analytics, as well as other tasks.

The head coach and technical director will work together daily, Koch said. At times, there could be overlapping in their roles.

"We will have a youth program here underway at some point in 2018," Berding said. "Whether that be over the summer in a loose sense and into the fall. But there's no question."

An academy would allow the club to cultivate talent around the area and potentially grow players into professionals who could eventually play for the club. Major League Soccer has this with Homegrown Players.

When asked about a specific model for an academy, Berding said he spoke with MLS clubs, as well as others in England and the Netherlands to find specific ideas that could be implemented at FC Cincinnati.

On Wednesday, youth club coaches from academies around the area were in attendance.

"We're thrilled to have all of our leaders here from throughout the Greater Cincinnati youth clubs," Berding said. "Because we're immediately going to start working with them to identify the players where a professional professional opportunity might be a reasonable ambition."